Kerry Bowie is Founder of the Majira Project, which focuses on entrepreneurship as a way to close the racial wealth gap in the United States. Since its founding, the Majira Project has helped more than 150 companies—partnering with the Boston Consulting Group’s Spark program on a free, 20-week accelerator. Majira operates in Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, Ill., Dallas, Texas, Los Angeles, California, and a number of other cities across the United States. Kerry told MFN about why he started the nonprofit, and why community development through entrepreneurship is so important for moving toward a more equitable society.
Q: What is the vision that drives your work with the Majira Project?
A: Our vision and mission are centered around community development through entrepreneurship. We believe there are three ways to close the racial wealth gap.
The first is education, but it’s a lengthy process. The second is home ownership, which is essential, but not our focus.
The third and most efficient and impactful way, in my opinion, is through entrepreneurship itself. By fostering entrepreneurship and supporting diverse teams, we can help close the wealth gap. There’s a strong connection between workforce development and entrepreneurship, as businesses led by black and brown founders tend to employ diverse teams, ultimately outperforming homogenous teams.
Q: How does the Majira Project’s name reflect its mission?
A: Majira is Swahili for “summer,” and our name represents the growing season. Just as a plant or seed needs sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow, we believe that startups and small businesses need consulting, coaching, connections, and capital.
We recently launched our eighth cohort. After reaching the seven-year mark, we assessed how to grow and sustain the program.
Q: What inspired you to found the Majira Project?
A: My background is in environmental engineering, and I worked for both Massachusetts Governors Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker. I’m also an MIT alum, both for undergrad and business school.
In one part of my public role, I was working with startups, mentoring and connecting them to services. However, I realized that what I was doing wasn’t helping people like me; I was mostly supporting young white guys and Asian students.
Around the same time, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released the Color of Wealth report, which showed a massive wealth gap between Black families and everyone else. This report indicated that the average wealth for a white family in Massachusetts was around $247,000, whereas it was only around $8 for Black families. That motivated me to try and address this issue.
I wanted to help those who couldn’t afford the fees required via direct consulting. We started a pilot with the Boston Consulting Group, where they provided pro bono consulting. The secret sauce of the Majira Project is that we vet companies and ensure that we focus on both the “horse” (the company) and the “jockey” (the entrepreneur).
Q: What do the founders you work with say they need in terms of additional support as they scale?
A: Regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, founders consistently express three needs: customers, connections, and access to capital. Access to capital is particularly important for founders of color. The VC market is broken for women and founders of color, and founders from smaller markets often struggle to connect with customers. Access to technical expertise is also crucial as companies grow.
We primarily work with later-stage companies, and these founders are looking for what’s next. They want support in scaling up and bridging the aforementioned gaps.
Are you working to find community and opportunity as a Massachusetts startup founder? Join MFN and get access to experts, networking opportunities, and connections within the statewide entrepreneur ecosystem.
